With over 20 years of experience in whipping up exceptional desserts across the world, you'd expect British pastry chef Graham Hornigold to step out of the kitchen laden with macarons and gateaux. But the first item he brings to our table at Yauatcha is a bowl of chilli sauce. "Dessert trials at all our restaurants are conducted with the sauce because it's Chinese cuisine. If the spice still lingers in your mouth after a spoonful of the dessert, it's out of the menu," says the London-based executive pastry chef, who works with Yauatcha Soho, and oversees dessert preparations in all restaurants part of the Hakkasan Group.3

Rose Ginger Choux

We try the sauce and then a bite of Rose Ginger Choux. The complex, zingy flavours of ginger and lemongrass from the choux pastry blend with rose-tinged whipped cream to offer a delightful mouthfeel that makes us forget all about the chilli sauce. Rose Ginger Choux is one of the eight new desserts that Hornigold has introduced on the revamped menu that launches next month. It also features new flavours of macarons such as Black Cherry, Red Fruit Mascarpone and Sesame.

The chef, who last visited Mumbai six years ago to launch the fine-dine, shares, "The pastry scene in Mumbai is yet to catch up with that in other parts of the world. The idea is to bring the dessert section at par with our UK restaurants." The current global trend in dessert, according to the chef, is to maximise two or three flavours. He does that in Tropical Dome, dominated by mango and coconut flavours, where the latter is used in creamy French meringue and a crumbly biscuit base. What about his favourite Indian desserts? "I tried gulab jamun and burnt my tongue. I love kulfi too."

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